1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosed subject matter relates to a food packaging system of a disposable container and tray for packaging and displaying food items, such as cupcakes. Particularly, the present disclosed subject matter is directed to a container for holding food items, wherein the container has a tray having a plurality of tiers for storing and displaying food items at different heights.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of containers are known for packaging of food products for secure shipping. Conventional food container designs include a tray having multiple wells to receive food products. Such conventional containers generally have been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose, however where the wells are closely spaced, it can be difficult for a consumer to access an individual food item for removal by hand without destroying the food item or disrupting adjacent food items. Where the food items are individual-serving pastries, for instance cupcakes, consumers desire the ability access an individual cupcake without contaminating the frosting on top of adjacent cupcakes and without damaging the frosting head of the selected cupcake in the removal process.
Some examples of prior art designs directed to containers having tiered trays can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,413,801 and 7,128,000. Other prior art designs directed to food trays with a plurality of individual wells can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,243 and U.S. Design Pat. No. D601,860. As evident from the related art, conventional configurations do not provide adequate access to individual food items, often require unnecessarily complex and excessively wasteful designs, or are not robust enough to provide the requisite durability of a packaging container. There thus remains a need for an efficient and economic method and system for a multi-tiered food container that securely encloses and stores the food product, yet provides easy access to individual food items for removal.